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A study that aims to transform heart disease prevention and care for women around the world has been awarded US $10 million by a global collaboration of major cardiovascular disease research funders.

The research seeks to advance our understanding of how menopause shapes heart health. The funding will also support the team to launch the largest clinical trial of its kind to detect silent changes in arteries, and test whether earlier prevention can stop or even reverse their progression.

The research has been funded by a sub-group of the Global Cardiovascular Research Funders Forum (GCRFF) through its International Research Challenge on Women’s Cardiovascular Health. The funding marks a significant milestone as the Forum’s first major joint investment and a bold step to address areas of unmet clinical need within women’s cardiovascular health.

The SHE-HEALS study, led by BHF Professor Ziad Mallat at the University of Cambridge and Professor Martha Hickey at the University of Melbourne alongside a global team spanning thirteen institutions across seven countries, will use cutting edge techniques to discover the changes in arteries that start during perimenopause and drive increasing heart disease risk. 

As part of this work, the team will also investigate how age at menopause affects heart disease risk, and whether taking HRT impacts this risk.

The researchers believe that current guidelines miss a vital window for earlier prevention in women. To address this, the team will establish the largest trial of its kind to detect silent atherosclerosis – the hidden hardening of the arteries and a key driver of heart disease – in women in perimenopause and early after menopause.  

By spotting the early signs of disease before symptoms appear, the study will test whether early prevention, including targeting key risk factors such as high blood pressure and cholesterol, can stop or even reverse progression of atherosclerosis.  

The SHE-HEALS team hope that the evidence from this study will help to shape global guidelines, paving the way for earlier, more effective prevention to protect the hearts of millions of women for longer.

Professor Ziad Mallat, BHF Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Cambridge, said:

“Menopause is a tipping point, when women’s risk of heart disease accelerates. Yet all too often, prevention only begins after problems have already taken hold. We want to stop heart disease before it starts, by focusing on the moment it begins.

“We’re thrilled to have been awarded this funding. By bringing together this global team of experts, we believe we can make meaningful progress to advance the prevention, treatment and care of heart disease for women around the world.”

Professor Martha Hickey, Chair of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Melbourne, said:

“We know that menopause seems to be a critical time for women’s heart health and this major global study will help us to support women and clinicians to reduce this risk.

“It’s truly an honour to be co-leading this multinational study from Australia and I believe that together we can make a real change in the understanding and management of heart health for millions of women worldwide.” 

Dr David Tancredi, current Chair of the GCRFF Board and Director of the Leducq Foundation, said:

“The GCRFF is proud to support the SHE-HEALS network, which brings together outstanding researchers from across the globe to investigate an important, but relatively under-studied problem, the connection between menopause and cardiovascular disease.

While we have long known that women are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease after menopause, it is not clear why, nor what we can do about it.  The SHE-HEALS network will help to fill in the gaps in our knowledge, providing the insights about post-menopausal cardiovascular disease needed to treat women more effectively, and to prevent the disease in the first place.

This network award, the first of its kind given by the GCRFF, is a landmark for the organization. In putting this program in place, our community of funders has worked together, pooling resources, expertise and data, to bring global attention to critical issues in cardiovascular disease, and to improve cardiovascular health for patients around the world.”

Through funding a network of the brightest minds and the best science, the GCRFF grant represents an opportunity for international, multi-disciplinary and multi-institution collaboration. Combining global expertise, the winning network’s research program will aim to deliver real-world impact in women’s cardiovascular health that would not otherwise be possible. 

Forum members funding this grant include the American Heart Association, the British Heart Foundation, the Danish Heart Foundation (Hjerteforeningen), the Dutch Heart Foundation (Hartstichting), the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (Deutsches Zentrum für Herz-Kreislauf-Forschung or DZHK), the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, the Leducq Foundation, the National Heart Foundation of Australia, the National Heart Foundation of New Zealand, and the Swiss Heart Foundation.